World’s First Bitcoin ATM Arrives at Coffee Shop, Goes Live Tomorrow

Jackson Warren (left) and Mitchell Demeter examine the Robocoin. Photo: David Ryder/Wired VANCOUVER, Canada — It’s a good thing that Mitchell Demeter owns a moving company. He needs a way of getting a 750-pound Bitcoin ATM off a wooden pallet, so it can be anchored to the floor in this Vancouver coffee shop. Demeter is one of three partners who have shelled out more than $90,000 to buy five ATMs that handle bitcoins, the world’s most popular digital currency, and today they’re going through the steps of installing their very first one at Waves Coffee, right next to the provincial courthouse in downtown Vancouver. As far as we know, this will also be the first operational Bitcoin ATM on the planet. Trading bitcoins for cash is a bit of a grey area, as far as financial regulations are concerned. In the U.S., companies that do this typically need to register as money transmis...